1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to systems and methods for treating water. More particularly, the invention relates to the reduction of contaminants from wastewater using bacteria.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Fresh water is the most important resource on planet Earth. The fact that about 2.5-3% of all water is fresh water, and of that only 0.3% is readily accessible to the human population. As the world's population continues to grow, competition for the available fresh water resources will increase and potentially spark armed conflict in areas with insufficient supplies. Areas within Africa, the Mid-East, and parts of the Far-East, particularly China; are probably the most vulnerable to fresh water shortages.
Most systems utilized to desalinate water sources require significant amounts of energy and maintenance as well as significant capital costs. Most technologies rely on multi-stage flash distillation and/or a series of membranes to desalinate water. As a result of utilizing these technologies, associated costs of water reclamation from can be prohibitive to the areas that are most susceptible to water shortages. As indicated earlier, maintenance issues are significant for MSF and membrane filtration systems. MSF is susceptible to scaling and corrosion and represent a major maintenance aspect. In the case of membrane filtration, increased operational costs, reduced efficiency, and membrane fouling are often the result of treating water with increased loads of salinity (specifically high levels of calcium and iron).
Since water is vital to all, it is necessary to develop technologies that can secure adequate supplies of fresh water. These technologies must be modular, portable, and reduce overall operational costs, while leaving a minimal impact to the area in which the technology is deployed. By implementing new technologies that take advantage of some inherent properties found within microorganisms, the volume of freshwater can be significantly increased throughout the world at much lower costs.